Ship and ship construction



Nov. 26, 1935.

E. SCHNEIDER SHIP AND SHIP CONSTRUCTION Filed July 20. 1932 20 wQZ/ /M/HAra/Mm.

Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application July 20,1932, Serial No. 623,489 In Germany July 25, 1931 6 Claims.

This invention relates to ships, and ship. constructions to enable themost advantageous contour of the hull, particularly of its wettedsurface, to be provided. The invention provides a o novel method ofdetermining the inclinations of the frames in the fore and aft sectionsof a ship, and also provides a novel shipconstruction.

More particularly, the invention comprises the utilization of straightor substantially straight frame lines extending above and below thewater-line, which have an inclination varying from frame to frameaccording to a well defined law, namely, that the frame lines form withthe water level an acute angle which increases from Iiithe bow of theship to its middle portion, and decreases from its middle portion to thestern of the ship. A substantial part of the bow portion, as also of thestern portion of the ship, form helicoidal surfaces, the axis of whichbeing substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the ship, itsgeneratrices being the straight or slightly curved frame lines. V

One object of the invention is to provide means whereby the water at theaft of the ship 5 closes in, in ordered lanes, and without forming avortex. Thereby, the resistance of the ship is decreased, and on theother hand, a reduction in the efliciency of the propulsion means at thestern is avoided. The former is made possible because churning or rotarymovement of the water, being a useless energy loss, is not present, andthe latter is made possible by providing a stronger and more regulatedstream of the water towards the propulsion means, which streamheretofore was unregulated and weakened.

One of the essentials of the invention is that due to the helicoidalsurface of the bow portion of the ship, a water movement is producedopposite to the rotation of the water effected by the aft part of theship, or in other words, the

rotation of the water created by the bow portion is neutralized by thereverse rotation effected by the stern portion, so that the water closesat the stern, forming practically parallel stream lines. Also thedirection of the absolute water paths in the bow part of the ship is inan are from above outwardly, instead in an arc from above downwardly.This arc movement from above outwardly at the bow portion of the shipbrings about a symmetry with the arc movement of the absolute water pathin the stern portion of the ship, and a favorable movement of thedisplaced water along the ship results from the bow po-r 5 tion to thestern portion of the ship.

In one embodiment this is attained by having the straight orsubstantially straight (slightly curved) frames of the hull belowthewaterlevelin the body plan, form acute angles with the water line,which angles increase from the bow to the 5 middle portion of the ship,and decrease from the middle portion of the ship to the stern of theship, and which frame lines in the body plan of the ship converge, bothfor the bow portion and for the stern portion, at points above the water10 level line, and outwardly. As is well known, between the bow portionof the ship and the stern portion, a middle body of suitable length canbe placed, having a suitable contour in respect to the design of theship. In the intermediate por- 15' tion between the bow portion andmiddle body, or between the middle body and stem portion, the principleof the invention is necessarily only generally applied in that the framelines converge in the described manner only partially. 20

Further featuresof the invention will be more specifically set forth inthe accompanying description and shown in the drawing, and the inventionwill be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 3 is a projected view of one of the abso- 85' lute water paths,both bow and stern portions, with the stern absolute water path placedbehind the bow, path, and duplicated to show both sides of the ship.

Referring to the drawing,and particularly to 40 Figure 1, the right-handside of the body plan represents the bow portion with the frames 0 to 9;and the left hand portion represents the stern portion with the frames 9to ill. On both sides, the frame lines converge towards the upper and 45outer side of the body plan, the bow frame lines at point. 0, and thestern frame lines at point 01. The'points 0 and E51, are indicative ofthe axes of the. helicoidal surfaces perpendicular to the plane ofthedrawing sheet that is parallel to 60 the longitudinal axis of the ship.The water level line is shown by Et -2i. The straight frame lines 0 to9, form acute angles with the water line 29-2l, beginning with thecenter plane 22 23 of the'hull, withangles oz, )8, 7, etc.

section areas at both ends of the ship, at least increasing from the bowto the middle body of the ship, where the angles are substantially rightangles. The straight frame lines 9 to ll form acute angles with thewater line, which decrease from the middle body to the stern of theship. In the bow portion, the lowermost ends of the straight frame linesmerge into curved portions suitable to the contour of the ship in amanner well known, and likewise, the uppermost ends of the straightframe lines of the stern portion merge into curves in a manner wellknown.

For blade wheel propellers with substantially: vertical axes, it ispreferable to have the stern portion disposed in parallel planes and toenable this adaptation to be readily made, the linesare drawn on thebody plan as indicated in full lines, both the straight lines andattendant curves, and then the lines its, Him, and Ila: aredrawn'parallel with each other, the line I550 being selected as the keyline, and the lines i651: and Hr are drawn parallel therewith, linesI61: and Has being drawn tangentially to the curved portions of lines 16and I1. Key line l5x was chosen arbitrarily in this illustration of theprinciple; another line could be chosen as well, it being dependent onthe contour desired.

It is well known that the absolute path of the water along'the hull of aship is substantially parallel with the orthogonal trajectories of theframe lines, and in Figure 2, one of these absolute water paths is shownby the are 2425 in the bow portion, and by are 26--2'l in the sternportion. It will be particularly noted that are 2425, passes from thebow, or from towards the center line of the body plan, downwardly andoutwardly, and this is one novel feature of this invention. This hasmany important advantages. given to the load water line of the ship, andat '-the same time a greater fullness of the lower portions of thewetted surface is made possible. This arc is specially advantageous forshallow water, as in such localities a movement of the water displacedfrom above in an arc towards the outside is by far better than amovement of the water from above in an arc towards the bottom. notimpeded by the bottom of the sea, and reactions are not set up whichimpede the movement of the ship, by unregulated reverse movements of thewater accompanied by energy losses. Also, the novel frame lines simplifythe contour of the hull of the ship, in that it permits also with thesimple and hydraulically preferable V form of the bow frames, thetransposition from the wetted surface of the hull to its part above thewater, in straight lines or planes. Furthermore, a most desirable centerof gravity location, and

displacement distribution, adapted to the principal mass of the ship andits speed, is obtained. For certain ship types, it is advantageous toconcentrate the displacement principally in the middle body, and to layout the body plan in such a manner, that the longitudinal profile of theframe at the bow, begins with only a slight inclination if not with anentirely horizontal tangent. This requirement is complied with, in aspecially ad- ;vantageous and simple manner. Also, hydraulicallyconsidered, the use of the invention in con trast to the known forms ofbow construction, brings about a shifting of the bow wave towards themiddle of the ship, which, when taken into consideration in theselection of the most efficient pendicular axes.

It enables a more slender shape to be In the former case, the water flowis ratio of length to speed, results in an additional saving inresistance.

In Figure 3, is shown a diagram symmetrical to the center line, in whichat each side of the center line, several of the bow and stem absolutewater path arcs are shown, and it will be particularly noted that eachof these bow and stern arcs presents a continuous curve longitudinallyalong the hull with its convex side towards the water level, whereby adownward forcing of water is avoided, especially as it approaches themiddle body of the ship.

This invention is particularlyv applicable to ships using propellerswith approximately per- By the actuation of such propellers which enablethe rudder and other appendages to be dispensed with, the entire shipbody can receive a simple form controlled only by hydraulicrequirements, and the present invention renders this especiallypossible. Propellers having vertical axes and placed at the sternusually require within the sphere of the propeller, plane surfaces ofthe hull, which can be readily formed, as before described, by givingthe straight frame lines the same inclinations, as shown in Fig. l, byi5rr, I63: and Has.

The action of the bow portion on the water is like that of a screw withits winding inwardly towards the "hull which has a tendency to create arotation of the water wherein the particles near the water level movetowards the ship, whereas the particles near the bottom of the hull moveaway from the ship, and the water re-entrance at the stern portion islikewise screw fashion like. The shaping of the two portions of theship, the bow and stem, according to this invention, is such that thesetwo screw effects neutralize each other.

It will have been particularly noted that the ships form produced by theinvention causes the water behind the ship to close in well orderedlanes, without vortex, whereby, not only the flow of the water into thepropeller is more regulated, but the wake action is made stronger. Also,the shapes of the fore and aft portions are such that the displacedwaters, moved in helicoidal forms at the fore and aft portions, balanceor neutralize each other. The direction of this heli coidal movement atthe fore part of the ship is inward at or near the water level; and atthe aft part is such that compensatory actions take place, enabling thepropeller blades to most effectively impinge so as to get the greatestefficiency out of the propeller. It will also be particularly noted thatthe. axes of the converging frame lines represented by the points 9 and01 are placed above the water level line for both the fore and aft partsof the ship. Whether the axis of one or the other is placed laterally ofthe body plan or hull lines, is not'so controlling as the fact that bothaxes are above the water line. By this disposition, the trajectory ofthe absolute path of the water along the bow portion is alwayspredominantly lateral instead of downwards, and while some component maybe downwards, in all cases the greater component is outwards. need notbe defined other than herein set forth, since the invention lies in thefact that these axes are both above the water line. The definitepositions of the axes may be dictated by considerations not necessarilywithin the scope of this invention, since the shipbuilder is in thisrespect free to a certain extent if he only positions both axes abovethe water level, thereby obtaining the favorable results hereinset'forth, namely, the neutralization by the stern portion of the shipof the waters motion against the hullforc'ed upon the water by the bowportion. With respect to the body plan, the water moves practicallyhorizontally along the ship as it passes the middle bodywith-*a-direction of flow in consonance with the direction of flowinitiated at the stern portion of the hull, reference being here made tothe absolute water paths.

It is well known to have axes 0 and 0 but in applicants' case, both axesare placed above the water level. In the embodiment, the axis 0 is abovethe water level and substantially vertically disposed over the lateralboundary of the main frame, that is, middle frame, and the axis 0 isalso above the water level and disposed within a rectangular area,formed by sides, one of which is the distance not exceeding one-half ofthe width of the ship, and extending along the water level beyond themain middle frame, and the other is the distance corresponding to thedepth of the ship extending above the water level line. From anexamination of Figure 1, it will be seen that the axes 0 and 0 complywith these requirements. In the use of the words how and stern, it isnot intended to define the bow and stem in their narrower nauticalconception, but both in the description and in the claims, the word bowis used to indicate the bow portion of the hull and the word stern isused to indicate the stern portion or after portion of the hull.

Embodiments of my invention have been shown and described, but it isunderstood that changes may be made in the form of details and in theconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim;

1. In a ships hull, a bow portion, a middle portion and a stern portion,with substantially straight frame lines extending above and below theload water line; the frame lines of the said bow portion forming acuteangles with said water line which progressively increase from a value ofabout at the bow of the ship to the middle portion and which converge inan axis which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of theship, which is above said water line and is outside the body plan of theship; the frame lines of the said stern portion converging in an axiswhich is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ship,which is above the load water line but lower than the axis of the framelines of the said bow portionand which is at a horizontal distance fromthe lateral boundary of the ship not substantially exceeding one-halfthe width of the ship.

2. In the determination of a ships construcstructional design, the stepswhich comprise selecting a load water line and a longitudinal axis forthe ship design, choosing a bow axis parallel to said longitudinal axisand above said water line, sweeping out one side of the fore part of theship design by passing lines through and perpendicular to said bow axismaking angles varying progressively from about 45 to about 90 with saidwater line, thereby determining the frame lines from the bow to themiddle portion of the ship design; choosing a stern axis parallel tosaid longitudinal axis and above said water line but below the bow axisand sweeping out one side of the stern of the ship design by passinglines through and perpendicular to said stern axis making angles varyingcontinuously from about 30 to 6 withsaid water line, thereby determin-'ing the frame linesfrom the middle portion to the stern of the shipdesign.

3. A ships hull comprising in combination a '75.

bow portion and a stern portion having" substani tially straight framelines extending above and below the load water line, the frame lines ofthe said bow portion forming acute angles with said water line whichincrease progressively from the 10 bow of the ship to a middle portionand which in a large part of the bow portion lie between 45 and 90, andthe. frame lines of the said stern portion forming acute angles withsaid water line which decrease progressively from the middle 16 portionof the ship to the stern and which in a large part of the stern portionlie between 6 and 30; the said frame lines of the bow portion and of thestern portion converging in two axes above the water level which aresubstantially parallel 20 to the longitudinal axis of the ship and areoutside of the body plan of the ship, the axis of the frame lines of thestern portion being below the corresponding axis for the bow portion.

4. In a ships hull, a bow portion, a middle por- 25 tion and a sternportion, with substantially straight frame lines extending above andbelow the load water line; the frame lines of said bow portion formingacute angles with said water line which progressively increase from avalue of about 30 45 at the bow of the ship to the middle portion andwhich converge in an axis which is substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the ship, and which is above said water line andoutside the body plan of the ship; the frame lines of said stern 35portion converging in an axis which is substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the ship, which is above the load water line butlower than the axis of the frame lines of the said bow portion and whichis at a horizontal distance from 40 the lateral boundary of the ship notsubstantially exceeding one-half of the width of the ship, the framelines of said stern portion forming angles with the water level varyingfrom about 30 to 6.

5. In a ships hull, a bow portion, a middle portion and a stern portion,with substantially straight frame lines extending above and below theload water line; the frame lines of the said bow portion forming acuteangles with said water line which progressively increase from a value ofabout 45 at the bow of the ship to the middle portion and which convergein an axis which is substantially parallel to the longitudir'ial axis ofthe ship, which is above said water line and is outside the body plan ofthe ship; the frame lines of the said stern portion converging in anaxis which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of theship, which is above the load water line but lower than the axis of theframe lines of the said bow portion and which is at a horizontaldistance from the lateral boundary of the ship not substantiallyexceeding one-half the width of the ship, the axis of the frame lines ofsaid bow portion being disposed substantially 5 vertically above thelateral boundary of the body plan of the ship.

6. In a ships hull, a bow portion, a middle portion andastern portion,with substantially straight frame lines extending above and below theload water line; the frame lines of the said bow portion forming acuteangles with said water line which progressively increase from a value ofabout 45 at the bow of the ship to the middle portion and which convergein an axis which is u substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe ship, which is above said water line and is outside the body plan ofthe ship; the frame lines of the said stern portion converging in anaxis which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of theship, which is above the load Water line but lower than the axis of theframe lines of the said bow portion and which isat a horizontal distancefrom the lateral boundary of the ship not substantially exceedingone-half of the width of the ship, and several of the last stern framelines being parallel to each other.

ERNST SCHNEIDER.

